


She's So Lovely

by Ellie_Elizabeth



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Accepting Tony Stark, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Female Peter Parker, Gay Panic, Gay Peter Parker, Girls Kissing, Lesbian Michelle Jones, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, dad tony stark, this is gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2019-11-04 17:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17902580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie_Elizabeth/pseuds/Ellie_Elizabeth
Summary: Penelope Parker had known that she liked girls for most of her life.It was something she never really discussed with anyone, and the only other people who actually knew about it were Aunt May and Ned. It just never seemed overly important to her; she had other things to worry about, like getting into MIT and being Spider-Girl. Any type of romance was currently sitting at the bottom of her priorities list.That was until Michelle Jones came along.orPenny is a huge lesbian mess and ends up turning to her mentor, Tony Stark, for dating advice





	1. How Long Will I Love You?

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to finish this for pride month but oh well.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope Parker had known that she liked girls for most of her life. 
> 
> It was something she never really discussed with anyone, and the only other people who actually knew about it were Aunt May and Ned. It just never seemed overly important to her; she had other things to worry about, like getting into MIT and being Spider-Girl. Any type of romance was currently sitting at the bottom of her priorities list. 
> 
> That was until Michelle Jones came along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place a year after Homecoming while they’re in their junior year. I kind of retconned this story so I thought I’d clarify that.

Penelope Parker had known that she liked girls for most of her life. 

It was something she never really discussed with anyone, and the only other people who actually knew about it were Aunt May and Ned. It just never seemed overly important to her; she had other things to worry about, like getting into MIT and being Spider-Girl. Any type of romance was currently sitting at the bottom of her priorities list. 

That was until Michelle Jones came along. 

She had transferred to Midtown for their Sophomore year, and Penny was instantly intrigued. The kids at Midtown usually fell into one of three categories, the annoying rich kids, the popular smart kids, or the lame nerds. Penny and Ned easily fell in to that last category, but Michelle didn't seem to fit into any of them. During the first week of school she had showed that she was incredibly smart after correcting their physics teacher on a problem she had incorrectly solved on the board. She also joined the Decathlon Team, and despite getting along well with everyone she still sat alone at lunch and never hung out with anyone after school. 

She would read during gym class and glare at the teacher if he even considered telling her to stop. She never let Flash Thompson give her any shit and constantly looked out for the other kids at school. Every thing about her was new and different, and Penny couldn't help but want to get closer to her. 

And then the crush had formed. 

Even though she knew she liked girl, Penelope had never actually gotten a real crush on someone. May would tease her and say she totally had the hot for Black Widow when she was a kid, but having a very real crush on a girl her age was entirely new and unbelievable terrifying. Of course, she initially tried to deny it; after all the last girl she had considered asking out turned out to be the daughter of a super-villain who had tried to kill her. And while Penny doubted something that specific would ever happen to her again, she couldn't just let her guard down so easily. 

Fall came and went, bringing back shitty memories of buildings collapsing around her and planes falling out of the sky from the year prior, and soon the streets of Queens was lined with a thin layer of slush. The dropping temperatures made it a lot harder for Penelope go out as Spider-Girl, but the convenient heater placed in the suit did wonders beyond belief. Spiders couldn't thermoregulate, which is something Penny learned the hard way during her first winter after the bite. Now however, she was a pro and knew to wear no less than three layers of clothes to school everyday. 

Nobody ever mentioned it, Ned knew exactly why she was doing it and their fellow classmates didn't care enough to ask. That probably why it shocked her so much when Michelle brought up that very subject one November day during lunch. 

"Why do you always wear so many layers?" She had casually asked from across the lunch table, picking at the suspicious looking meat on her tray. Shortly after Homecoming Ned had invited her to come over and sit by them, considering they already sat at the same table and she seemed lonely. Michelle had agreed and ever since them the three of them had spent the 40 minute lunch period together, which did not help the dilemma with Penny’s ever growing crush at all.

"Well, you know," She replied awkwardly. "I'm always kind of cold and the lack of heating in this school doesn't really help" 

Michelle laughed slightly, shoving the piece of mystery meat into her mouth and then grimacing at the taste. "God, I don't know how they're legally allowed to even serve this shit to us.” She joked, pushing her plate aside. "I honestly think this isn't even meat." 

Penny poked at the equally unappetizing food on her plate, before also pushing it aside. Even with her advanced metabolism there was no way in hell she would ever eat whatever had been put on her plate. She decided instead that she would just eat extra food tonight when she went to the tower. 

"Well I'm still starving." Michelle declared while standing up. "I have some food in my locker, you guys wanna come get it with me?" 

Ned quickly shook his head while pouring over some sort of history textbook. "I’ve got a test on the Industrial Revolution next hour that I completely forget to study for.” He started, not stopping for air once. "If I fail another one of Mr. Wolf’s tests my mom is actually going to kill me and if I'm dead I can't go on the mid-year trip next month and I've been looking forward to it since it was announced and-" 

"Ok Ned.” Penny told her friend, interrupting Ned in the middle of his monologue. "Just take a few deep breaths and study, I'm sure you'll do fine.” 

Ned just mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Thomas Edison can suck my ass', as Michelle and Penny walked over to the lunchroom’s exit so they could dispose of the mystery meat and head out towards the lockers. While you technically weren't suppose to leave the lunchroom during the lunch period, the teacher in charge of watching the lunchroom liked Penelope, and knew that she was a generally good kid. She also knew about her sensory overload issues, and that being in a confined space for too long with three-hundred some screaming teens was a very easy way to trigger them. 

So all it took was a small smile from Mrs. Phillips, who was standing over by the kitchen doors, for Penny and Michelle to know that they were good to leave the lunchroom. Since everyone else in the building was either eating or on break, the walk to Michelle's locker was eerily quiet. The two made small talk, discussing how Michelle's family was going to Chicago for Thanksgiving this year to see some distant family and how Michelle's moms new boyfriend was planning on taking them to Disney World for Christmas vacation.  

"I know Tyler is being really generous for offering to take us on all these trips.” Michelle confessed. "But at times I can't help but feel that he's trying to buy our love or something" 

"He's probably just trying to show you that he cares.” Penny told her, thinking back to all the times Mr. Stark had tried to buy her things she really didn't need just because he wanted too. "It's possible he's scared that you and you're siblings don't like him and he just wants to prove himself.” 

The two approached Michelle's locker that had a big _Black Lives Matter_ sticker stuck to the front of it, along with a poster put up by the Decathlon team announcing how they had won Nationals. Due to the fact that she had come Sophomore year her locker was surrounded by more current freshman and sophomores than upperclassmen, but she never seemed to mind. If anything it was better than Penny’s locker, which was right across the hall from Flash's and the rest of his rich friends. 

She quickly entered the three letter combination and the locker swung open in one fell swoop. The inside of it was filled with magnets from various states and other attractions. Michelle also had a small mirror covering the vent and a matching pencil holder. Everything about her locker could accurately be described as an organized mess, with various novels filling up the top self and all her textbooks lazily tossed to the bottom. Her old gym shoes were also nicely placed on top of the mountain of text books and her coat and backpack were hung up on the locker hooks. 

She reached into her backpack and pulled out two granola bars, an apple, and a sleeve of Ritz Crackers. She threw the apple and granola bar to Penny before opening the sleeve of crackers and situating herself on the floor in front of the open locker. There was still 15 left in the lunch period, and neither of them had plans of going back into that lunchroom, so she sat herself next to Michelle and took a bite out of the apple. 

"Thanks MJ.” Penny said, using the nickname she only allowed friends to use. "I honestly don't even know why I bother with lunch when I know I'm just going to end up throwing it away." 

Somewhere in her locker MJ had also found a water bottle and was using it to wash down the dry crackers. "My mom gets mad when I don't buy lunch.” She told Penny, taking a bite out of another cracker. "She always talks about how it's the most important meal of the day or something, and I just don't have the heart to tell her how bad the schools lunches really are." 

Penelope hadn't realized how hungry she really was until only a sliver of the apples core was left and the granola bar was completely gone. MJ had also finished almost half the sleeve of Ritz, and had even offered a few to Penny. It wasn't an especially satisfying lunch, but it was definitely better than going hungry. By the time they had finished there was still a few minutes before the bells would ring and the halls would fill, so the pair decided to walk back to Penny’s locker so she could grab her books for her next class. 

"I still can't believe they let you into calculus without taking pre-calc first.” MJ told her, as Penny grabbed the textbook that weighed at least one ton _(if not more)_. Not that it really mattered; with her super strength she could have carried a thousand textbooks with no problem, but it still made no sense that her technology based school still used textbooks from the 80s when newer and better books were online for free. 

"It was their apology for not being able to get me into AP biology.” Penny joked, closing her locker. "It conflicted with both my physics and english classes, and calculus was the only class they could get to fit into my schedule so they just said _fuck it_ and put me in.”  

Michelle laughed, which made Penny’s heart flutter slightly. Sometimes she was able to forget about her ever growing crush, but then MJ would do something as simple as laugh at one of her stupid jokes and she'd be thrown right back down the rabbit hole. 

"I was wondering if you were doing anything this Sunday?" MJ asked her, fiddling with the ends of her sweatshirt sleeve. "Because I have two tickets for this Musical Festive that’s coming to town this weekend, and the person I originally planned to go with is current stuck at home with a stomach bug."

Penelope stared at her like an idiot for a second, before realizing what she was asking. "S-So, you want me to go with you?" She asked stupidly, silently cursing at her own stutter. 

"If you'd like to to go, then yeah"

Penny only had to think for one second before responding. 

"I'd love too"

 


	2. As Long As Stars Are Above You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As soon as the school bell rang later that afternoon, signaling that the school day was finally over, Penny was out of the building before Happy could even pull into the parking lot. 
> 
> The man didn’t seem too shocked to find her waiting outside on the curb, but was mildly concerned when the girl slid into the backseat of the car without saying a word. On any other day she would have instantly started talking his ear off, telling him about every minuscule detail of what happened to her that day. However, on this particular trip top the Tower, Penny seemed more interested in staring out the window than conversing with the man in the front seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're curious (which you probably aren't) the chapter titles are from Ellie Goulding's song _How Long Will I Love You_. It kind of inspired me to continue this story so I thought I'd share.
> 
> Also, I meant to update this for pride month, and then I never did. So enjoy it a month late.

As soon as the school bell rang later that afternoon, signaling that the school day was  _ finally  _ over, Penny was out of the building before Happy could even pull into the parking lot. 

The man didn’t seem too shocked to find her waiting outside on the curb, but was mildly concerned when the girl slid into the backseat of the car without saying a word. On any other day she would have instantly started talking his ear off, telling him about every minuscule detail of what happened to her that day. However, on this particular trip top the Tower, Penny seemed more interested in staring out the window than conversing with the man in the front seat. 

“You good kid?” Happy asked her, praying that she wasn’t sick or something. “You’re being weirdly quiet.”

Penny shrugged, buckling her seat belt into place. “Yeah, just tired.” She replied, not sounding very convinced herself. “Long day I guess.”

Happy let the conversation die after that, but that didn’t stop him from noticing all the nervous ticks that Penelope was clearly trying to hide. The way she would tap her fingers on her thigh or fidget with her cellphone every so often. They were all clear signs that she was worrying about something, but what could possibly be occupying her thoughts was a whole different question. 

The first thing that came to the man's mind was obviously bullying. He knew the girl had gone through the shit in the past, but from what Tony had told him most of that was resolved after his most recent trip to the school. Happy would never forget the day Penny had come to the tower with a black eye that was not related to Spider-Girl, and the billionaire almost murdered a minor. 

Another reasonable explanation was that Penny had somehow broken her suit again and was trying to figure out how she was going to break the news to her mentor. If it wasn’t from a stab wound or a psychopath with eight mechanical arms, the young vigilante would always find out a way to damage her multi-million dollar suit. Once she even put it through the washing-machine and fried the circuiting. Tony had made sure it was more water resilient after that incident. 

“Ok seriously kid, what’s wrong?” Happy asked again, nearly ten minutes into the drive. “I have never  _ once  _ heard you be this quiet while in my car. You’re starting to worry me.”

A weak laugh sounded from the backseat, and Happy looked into his rear view mirror to see the girl staring down at her lap. “Really, it’s nothing.” She replied, making the man roll his eyes in exasperation. “Something just happened at school day.” 

Happy waited for her to continue, but the girl remained silent. “Well are you going to tell me or I am just supposed to start guessing?” 

“Well, uhh,” Penny started, unsure how to continue her sentence. “This kid who goes to my school invited me this music festival thing on Sunday.”

She paused, saying her next words much softer. “Kind of like a date.” 

Well… that certainly was not what Happy was expecting. He looked back at the girl to see her cheeks lightly dusted in a rosey blush, and laughed quietly to himself. Whoever this guy was, Penny must really like him.

“This boy must be pretty great to have warranted your attention.” Happy joked, not missing how Penny tensed up at his words. 

The whole world seemed to slow slightly, as Penelope considered her options here. She could Happy the truth about MJ and how she definitely wasn’t a boy and deal with the consequences of the man knowing her sexual orientation. Or she could not correct him and risk saying something to Mr. Stark about her supposed ‘date’, which would just lead her down another path of problems. 

“Well actually.” Penny mumbled, knowing she would regret what she was about to say the second the words left her lips. “Thedateisn’twithaboy.”

She spit out the words so fast that Happy was barely able to hear any of what she said. “I didn’t get any of that kid.” He told her, making Penny throw her head back against the seat in irritation. “Mind repeating?” 

Penelope grit her teeth, wishing she hadn’t even brought up the stupid date in the first place. “I said.” She repeated, saying the next words very slowly. “The date isn’t with a boy.” 

As soon as the words exited her mouth, Penny could feel her chest tighten up in anxiety. It was like the first time she had told May in sixth grade, after her aunt kept inquiring why she hadn’t asked any of the boy in her grade to the middle school dance. Or when she had panicked and told Ned during their freshman year of highschool, after her best friend had kept teasing and her saying that Flash definitely had a crush on her. It was that fear that they would be disgusted with her just because she didn’t like dudes.

“Oh.” Happy broke the silence, making Penny feel like she was going to throw up. “Sorry for assuming, I’m sure whoever this girl is she must be super great as well.” 

Relief flooded Penny’s whole body at those simple words. “Yeah, she is.” Was all she could reply before the car pulled into the Avengers Tower garage and Happy found a place to park.

Grabbing her backpack off the seat next to her, Penny jumped out of the car and headed towards the elevator that would lead them directly up to Mr. Stark’s penthouse. Happy was on her heels and he scanned his ID card so that the pair would have unlimited access up to the top floor.

Once the elevator had started to steadily rise, Penny finally found the courage to look over at the man. “You’re not going to tell Mr. Stark… right?” She asked him, scared to hear his reply.

“Of course not.” Happy responded, his brow furrowed. “That’s your business, not mine. As long as you’re not in any immediate danger or dying, I don’t have to tell him anything about you.”

Penny was about to respond with a gracious, thank you, when the elevator stopped at the seventy-third floor and the one and only Black Widow stepped on. 

“Hello Penny, Hogan.” She greeted the younger spider and head of security, obviously just gotten done in the gym. “Is it really already Friday?”

The Rogue Avengers had returned a little over a month after Penny had started coming over to the Tower periodically, so they all knew her pretty well. Tony had been super apprehensive about letting them met the teenage girl at first, but after much begging from both ends the man had given in. The rest is history. 

“Unfortunately.” Happy replied to Natasha’s question, back to his grumpy old self. That got a laugh out of the assassin who clicked the button that would take her to her own floor. 

“Are you still coming to training tomorrow?” Nat asked Penny, pulling out her hair-tie and letting her red waves of hair fall onto her shoulders. “I would love to see you kick Steve’s ass again.” 

Penny giggled, remember when she had managed to flip the man nearly three times her size onto the training mat. “I’ll consider.” She teased, as they arrived at Nat’s floor. “Only as long as you don’t have it at eight am again. The only reason Sam was able to knock my down was because I was still half asleep.”

“Noted.” Natasha smiled, before exiting the elevator. The doors closed behind her and only a second later they arrived at the penthouse’s living room. 

“Good luck kid.” Happy told her, before pressing yet  _ another  _ button to take him back to the garage. Penny wasn’t sure why he always insisted on coming up with her, but she always assumed that it had something to do with Mr. Stark. Nevertheless she enjoyed the company on the obnoxiously long ride up to the one hundredth floor.

“Penny?” A feminine voice called from the kitchen. “Is that you?” 

Pepper emerged from the kitchen, her hair still up as if she had just come from a meeting. She was wearing a simple white dress that clearly showed off her large baby bump and her feet were bare of any heels or flats. 

“Hi Mrs. Stark.” She greeted her, throwing her backpack onto the couch. The woman grimaced at the name, and Penny couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“How many times have I told you,” She told the girl, walking over to pull her into a hug. “It’s just Pepper. Mrs. Stark just makes me sound old.” 

“I take offense to that.” Another voice responded, and Penny and Pepper turned around to find Mr. Stark leaning in the doorway that led to his lab. He was wearing his usual grease stained t-shirt and jeans, with an added splotch of motor oil across his forehead. 

He walked over to the small group of two and threw an arm over Penny’s shoulder. “You would think after knowing us for nearly two years you would have the right to say our first names.” He teased the younger girl.

“Sorry that I was raised properly.” She scuffed, leaning into Tony’s embrace. “If it makes you feel any better I accidentally called Captain Rogers  _ Mr. America  _ during training the other day and I’m pretty sure Sam will never let me live it down.”

The earned a laugh out of both adults, and Tony loosened his grasp while Pepper made her way back into the kitchen. “Hungry kiddo?” Mr. Stark asked, sitting down in one of the arm chairs and turning on the TV. “I’m sure Pepper is in there making some weirdly healthy snack as we speak.” 

“I heard that.” Pepper called to them, walking out of the kitchen caring two bowls of fruit. “Just because you live off pizza and beer, doesn’t mean the rest of us can.” 

She handed the second bowl to Penny, who took in graciously. The apple and granola bar from earlier had officially been consumed by her crazy metabolism and the gnawing in her stomach only seemed to increase with every passing second. Tony must have noticed this as he watched her gobble down the fresh fruit with a bemused expression. 

“Don’t forget to come up for air.” He joked, plucking a spare raspberry from Pepper’s bowl. “Did you forget to eat lunch again today or something?” 

Penny found a seat on the couch next to Pepper, making sure not to let any of the excess fruit juice drip onto the white fabric. “I tried, but it was mystery meat day.” She scrunched up her nose in disgust, throwing an orange into her mouth. “I would almost rather starve than eat that slop.”

After that, Tony asked more questions about her day as her and Pepper finished up their snack. Ever since the Homecoming incident the year prior, both of them had gotten a lot more invested in Penny’s life, and she even had her own bedroom in their apartment. They were almost like a little family, and on the rare occasions when May could join them for dinner or a movie, it was perfect. 

After all the fruit had been eaten and Pepper had safely deposited both of the bowls into the dishwasher, Penny and Tony took off towards the lab to work on some suit upgrades. During that week of patrols, no external harm had befallen the Spider-Girl suit. However, Karen had been glitching since Wednesday, which was not a good thing considering she was always the one to spot the crime. 

As they passed the hours until dinner, Penny pouring over AI code and Tony working on one of his faulty repulsors, she couldn’t help but notice that the feeling of unease from earlier had once again settled in her stomach. It was like back in the car with Happy, the overwhelming anxiety over basically nothing back at full bloom. 

She didn’t have to tell Mr. Stark about the date. It was her own personally business and she wasn’t entitled to share it with anyone. But the more she thought about it, the more logical the idea became. Penny had no idea how to act on a date and not only had Mr. Stark been in a mostly stable relationship for nearly a decade now, but he was the most reasonable person to ask for relationship advice.    
There was always Pepper, but she would most certainly tell May about everything afterwards no matter how much Penny begged her not to. Steve, Sam, and Bucky were completely off the table due to their severe lack of relationships, and Wanda and Vision were out on holiday for the next month or so. Clint would also be ideal, but he was currently on some farm in the middle of nowhere with his family and Nat had only had that thing with Doctor Banner a few years ago.

She was also the closest with Tony, and she knew he would never judge her no matter what. So after spending nearly two hours unsuccessfully fixing Karen, Penny closed out the program and turned to look at her mentor. 

He had moved on from the repulsor and was fiddling the next Stark Phone version that was set to release in the spring. They were currently the leading brand in both clean energy and tech, so each new release had to be bigger and better than the last. So that meant Tony spent literally days slaving over each new item, not stopping until whatever problem he found was fixed. 

He looked so focused, that Penny almost felt bad for interrupting him. “Mr. Stark?” She asked meekly, gaining his attention. 

“What’s up kiddo?” He responded, setting the phone to the side. “You figure out that programming yet?”

He walked over, and sent a confused glance toward her blank computer screen. “No, not yet. I’m kind of having trouble focusing.” She admitted, avoiding the man’s gaze. “I was wondering if I could ask you about something?”

Tony face went from looking confused to more concerned. “Of course Pen, is everything alright?” He asked. 

Penny laughed slightly, trying to quell the panic rising in her chest. “I really wish people would stop asking that.” She mumbled, glancing towards the floor. “Um well, first I need to tell you something that I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while.” 

That part wasn’t a lie. Penny had always meant to tell Mr. Stark that didn’t like boys, but she could just never find the right time or moment to do it. So she never did. 

“It’s just that,” Penny continued, feeling the early stages of a panic attack start to set in. “I- I wanted to tell you, that I like… girls. And I just thought you should know so you heard it from me and no one else.” She finished quickly.

She refused to look up and meet her mentors eyes, scared that they would be filled with only disgust and repulsion. “Oh Penny.” Tony said, setting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m happy you trust me enough to share something like this with me.” He told her.

Without thinking Penny wrapped her arms around Tony’s waist and buried her head in his chest. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, I was just scared you’d be weirded out and not invite me down in the lab anymore.” She confessed.

Tony let out a soft chuckle that made his stomach rumble slightly. “You can’t get rid of me that easy kid.” He teased, ruffling Penny’s hair. “It’s going to take a lot more than liking girls to do that.”

Penny let out a cry that she hadn’t realized she been holding in, just so thankful that Mr. Stark didn’t hate her now that he knew the truth. “Something tells me there’s a reason you told me this.” Tony continued, slowly pulling away from the hug. “So do you care to share with the class?” 

Penny whipped at her eyes to rid of any moisture that may have collected there, trying not to look like a baby. “I may or may not being going on date on Sunday with a girl from my school.” Penny smiled sheepishly, enjoying the look of shock on her mentors face. “And it may or may not be my first date ever so I was hoping I could ask for some advice.” 

Tony grinned, quickly leading Penny over to the sofa they had set up in the corner of the lab. “Well you’re in luck.” He told the girl, sitting her down next to him. “Because Pepper has incredibly high standards when it comes to dates, so you came to the right guy.”

Until Friday told them that it was time for dinner, the pair sat on the futon as Tony sprouted out advice while Penny either wrote it down on a small notepad she had found or committed it to memory. And after dinner, when Tony suggest the whole team watch a movie together, he picked a horribly cheesy romantic comedy. Much to everyone’s confusion and Penelope’s horror. 

“Just remember to always be yourself.” Tony told her as a final piece of advice before they headed separate ways to go to bed. “I know it’s cliche as hell, but it’s true. Never try to be someone you’re not.”

“Noted.” Penny replied, a tired smile on her lips. It was nearing two am and everyone else had mostly passed out a few hours prior, but Penelope and Tony being their stupid selves had decided to play Mario Kart into the wee hours of the morning. 

“Get some sleep, we’ll talk more in the morning.” Tony told her, before disappearing down the hallway and into his own room. 

Penny went off to her own room as well, which was appropriately themed around her favorite color; red. She quickly threw on a new shirt and a pair of sweatpants that didn’t smell like motor oil or Italian takeout and grudgingly brushed her teeth. The Queen sized been that took up an entire corner of the room felt almost heavenly when she finally laid down in it, and she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

That night she dreamed about everyone in her life knowing that she was gay, and for the first time in her entire life, that prospect didn’t seem so unbelievably scary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally only meant to be three chapters but I'm reconsidering that now. Depending on how much people like this story I might do more.


	3. And Longer If I Can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny woke up the next morning to the heavenly smell of pancakes filtering in from the kitchen. Turning to grab her phone off the nightstand, she found that it was only nine am. 
> 
> Groaning, she rolled over with the full intention of falling back asleep. However, Friday interrupted her before she could.
> 
> “Miss Parker,” The AI started, making Penelope glare up at the ceiling. “Boss has told me to inform you that if you, and I quote, ‘don’t get your ass out of bed right now, I don’t want to hear your complaints when all the pancakes are gone and you’re still hungry .’ So if I were you, I would not find it wise to fall back asleep.”

Penny woke up the next morning to the heavenly smell of pancakes filtering in from the kitchen. Turning to grab her phone off the nightstand, she found that it was only nine am. 

Groaning, she rolled over with the full intention of falling back asleep. However, Friday interrupted her before she could.

“Miss Parker,” The AI started, making Penelope glare up at the ceiling. “Boss has told me to inform you that if you, and I quote, ‘don’t get your ass out of bed right now, I don’t want to hear your complaints when all the pancakes are gone and you’re still hungry .’ So if I were you, I would not find it wise to fall back asleep.” 

Just from the smell, Penny could tell that it was Steve making breakfast. Mr. Stark would have burnt the food by now and nobody else really ever volunteered to cook. So, against her better judgement, she rolled out of bed and threw on an old sweatshirt that was laying on her floor. 

“Ah, the goblin emerges.” Tony teased her, as she walked into the kitchen to find everyone already eating. “Welcome back to the land of the living. Could I offer you some pancakes?”

Tony was seated at the breakfast bar next to Rhodey, who rolled his eyes at the other man's comment. Steve was still huddled over the stove, wearing a ridiculously small apron and focusing all his attention on flipping the small cakes. 

“Yes please.” Penny responded, grabbing a huge stack and taking a seat next to her mentor. “I'm kind of starving. I feel like I could eat a horse.” She admitted before digging in.

“Well that's terrifying.” Sam commented, a half full cup of coffee in his hands. “Especially since I’m pretty sure you ate more than all of us combined last night. Where does all that food even go?” 

Penny shoved a huge fork full of syrup cover pancakes into her mouth before responding. “High metabolism.” She told him, her words coming out slightly muffled and unintelligible.

Saturday was the teams unofficial ‘official team building day’, as put in place by Natasha. Unless there was a huge emergency, mission, or people were away for the weekend (i.e. Clint, Wanda, and Vision), everyone was usually free and available to attend. That’s why Penny wasn’t shocked when the ex-assassin walked into the kitchen looking like she’d been up for a few hours already. 

“Wow, I never thought I’d see the day where Penny willingly woke up before noon on a weekend.” she joked, loading her plate. “Just in time too, me and Bucky just finished setting up everything for training today.” 

As on queue, the metal armed man walked into the kitchen with a towel thrown over his shoulder. Unlike Natasha, he seemed to be sweating heavily and looked like he just got done running the mile. His breathing was coming out in deep pants and he held a water bottle in his hands.

“And by that she means,” Bucky replied in between his deep breaths. “I did all the heavy lifting while she periodically tried to throw dodgeballs at my head.” 

Penny couldn’t help but smile at the exchange and quickly finished off the last of her pancakes on the plate. By now having casual conversation and eating breakfast with the  _ freaking  _ Avengers was just part of her everyday life, but it still never failed to amaze her how domestic and stupid they could be at times. 

Once everyone had finished their food, the plates were placed into the dishwasher and everyone shuffled down to the gym to start training. Everyone always started off the session by sparring with each other to warm up, and Penny ended up getting paired with Natasha on this particular day. 

“The two spiders.” Natasha smiled, as they each took their spots on the mat. “Don’t hold back on me now.” 

Penny tried really hard to focus on warming up, she really did. But every time she caught sight of Mr. Stark or remembered her confession from the night before, her mind drifted off to the ‘date’ that would be happening the next day and Nat would be able to knock her down with no resistance. 

The third time this happened, the woman pulled her to the side to get them each a drink of water. After being handed the paper cup Penny said a quick  _ thank you  _ before downing the entire drink in one gulp. She poured herself another serving from the water cooler they had brought down and looked up to find Natasha’s eyes trained on her. 

“You’re distracted.” She stated, watching as Penny drank her second serving of water. “Is everything ok? You’re usually more perceptive than this.” 

Penny could feel her heart nearly stop at Natasha’s words. Was she really being that obvious? Of course she could always chalk it up to sleepiness or feign an illness, but she knew the woman would never believe that. Nat was smart like that, being able to see right past people’s bullshit.

“Long night.” She explained, the excuse not being a total lie. “Me and Mr. Stark lost track of time and played the switch until like 3am last night. Guess maybe I should have slept in a little longer.” 

She flashed an unconvincing grin, and although Nat didn’t believe her, she let the subject go. She had other ways to get information anyway. Right as they were about to walk back to their mat to continue sparring, the timer went off, signaling that the half hour warm up period was over. 

Training continued as normal after that. They worked on some emergency drills and did some basic exercises. By the end everyone was tired and a sweaty mess, and Penelope felt like she could crawl in her bed and sleep for the next year. Natasha and Bucky did not mess around with their training sessions, and they knew everyone was still going to be feeling it tomorrow. 

As soon as everyone was excused, Penny retreated back to her room and quickly jumped into the shower. After cleaning up and scrubbing the scent of  _ sweat  _ out of her hair, she dried off and threw on a grey sweater and jeans. She was thankful that Mr. Stark always remember to keep her closet stocked with clothes, because she was notorious for forgetting to pack and her sweat ridden clothes were absolutely disgusting. No amount of desperation would have led her to put them back on.

She sat down on her bed to start detangling her wet hair, when her phone beeped on her nightstand. She looked over to find three unread messages from MJ, along with a text from May inquiring about her plans for tomorrow. 

Momentarily ignoring her aunt, Penny threw her hairbrush to the side and grabbed for her phone. The messages had only been set around twenty minutes ago, which made the teenager sigh with relief. 

_ [12:08pm] _

**MJ:** _ hey we’re still on for tomorrow right? _

**MJ:** _ just wanted to make sure nothing came up _

**MJ:** _ also im assuming i’ll pick you up from your apartment?  _

_ [12:31pm]  _

**Penny:** _ yeah of course we’re still on!!  _

**Penny:** _ also my apartment is perfect  _

**MJ:** _ awesome! see you then _

Penny felt her heart flutter as she reread the text convo. She could feel her chest start to beat faster and silently cursed herself for being so stupid over all of this. Above everything else, MJ was her friend, so there was no reason to get so worked up over something like a simple text message. 

But one thing was still true; how was she supposed to survive a whole date if she could barely even text her without freaking out? 

He phone pinged again with another text from May, once again asking about what would be going on tomorrow. She had casually mentioned to the woman that she had plans, but never bothered to elaborate on them. In a split second decision, Penny decided to pick up her phone and click the call button next to her aunts name. The phone only rung once before she picked up.

“Hey sweetie.” Her aunt greeted, her kind voice instantly calming Penny down. “Is everything ok? You don’t usually call.” 

“Yeah everything’s fine.” She responded quickly, trying to stop the shakiness in her voice. “You just asked about my plans for tomorrow and… well it’s kind of a long story. I thought it would be better if I told you over the phone, instead of trying to summarize it in a text.” 

She ended up spilling her entire guts to May, who patiently listened to the never ending story on the other end of the phone. Only occasionally interrupting to ask a question or comment. She told her everything from when the crush had first formed to MJ inviting her to the music festival, and by the end of it Penny throat was starting to feel hoarse from talking for so long. But it also felt like a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders, which in her opinion made the whole ordeal worth it. 

“Wow you’re really worked up about this, aren’t you?” May finally responded, once Penny had finished recounting the entire tale. “Well, I’m not exactly an expert at dating, but I’ll make you a deal. Why don’t I have Tony send you home early today, and then me and you can do a little shopping while I give you the best advice I got. Would you like that?” 

Penny paused for a moment, taking in her aunts words. “Really?” She whispered, making May chuckle a little. Money was always kind of tight in their household, so shopping trips were always saved for very special occasions. Birthdays, Christmas, and back to school were all great examples. So for her aunt to be suggesting one meant she really thought this was an important event in the teenagers life. 

“Yeah.” She told the girl, thankful that she usually had Saturday’s off. “You need to look nice for your first date and I’ve been in need of a new pair of shoes for a while now. It’s a win-win for both of us.” 

Penny couldn’t help but laugh a little, wondering how she had ended up with such a cool aunt. “That sounds amazing May.” She told her, smiling into the phone. “Thank you.” 

Only an hour later Happy was pulling up to her apartment, where May was waiting for her on the front steps. Tony had been more than happy to let her go home a little early that day, only as long as she promised to text him as soon as the date was over to tell him how it went.

“Good luck tomorrow kid.” Happy had also told her before speeding off, and as soon as he was gone her and May were in their own car heading towards their favorite stores in Queens to shop and forget about their many worries. 

And somehow, the thought of tomorrow didn’t scare Penny as much as it had that morning. 

 

Natasha silently wandered down the stairs that she knew led to Tony’s private lab. It wasn’t a place she went to often, usually only for weapon upgrades and phone troubles. But after she saw the way Penny had been acting during training today, she decided to ask the man about it to see if he knew what was going on with her. 

Penny was usually fairly composed. There was a short period of time after she had been introduced to the team where she would freak out every time she was in the same room as them, but by now she had adjusted. The last time she had acted this weird was when she had broken three of her ribs and was trying (and failing) to hide it. So Natasha had every right to be concerned. 

She got to the big metal door that kept unwanted visitors out of the lab and hesitated a moment before requesting to be let in. Nat knew that Tony was quite protective over the young girl and would absolutely want to know if she was acting weird. On the other hand, she wasn’t as close with Penny as the billionaire was, and the last thing she wanted to do was overstep her boundaries. Especially not when the team was finally starting to become a family again. 

Putting all doubts aside, she tilted her head up to address the AI that lived in their ceilings. “Umm, Friday.” She started. “Could you ask Tony to let me in.” 

“Oh course Ms. Romanoff.” Friday responded, her Irish voice bouncing around the room. “One second please.” 

Almost instantly the door shifted open, allowing Nat access to the room. Thanking the AI, she slipped into the lab and followed the sound of AC/DC towards where she knew Tony would be. 

“I wasn’t expecting guests tonight.” Tony greeted her as she walked into the room. “Although usually your visits never mean anything good. So what did you break now?” 

He turned from what he was working on and wiped his hands on a towel that was sitting on his desk. He was wearing his usually grease stain T-shirt and jeans, along with a few oil smudges on his face to complete the look. It never failed to bemuse Natasha whenever she caught the billionaire looking so normal and domestic, especially since the man tried to never let that side of him show.

“Nothing… yet.” She told him, her eyes glancing over at one of the unfinished projects he had on display. “But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to talk about Penny.” 

Usually the teenage girl would be working in the lab with Tony around this time, but today she had left the tower shortly after training. Her excuse had been she needed to help her aunt with something, which had only added to her pile of suspicion. Unless there was an emergency or she was sick, Penny would never voluntarily give up time she could be working on her suit. 

“Why?” Tony asked, suddenly very concerned. “Is something wrong? She seemed fine this morning.” 

Natasha choose her next words wisely, not trying not to freak the man out anymore than she already had. “I’m… not really sure.” She told him, watching as the worry lines on Tony’s face got even deeper. “She was just so distracted during training today and I’m afraid she might be hiding something. Do you know anything?”

She watched in confusion as Tony’s face relaxed and his shoulders became less tense. “We had a long night.” He tried to explain, not sounding that convinced himself. “I’m sure she’s fine. If something was really wrong she would have told me by now.”

He turned back to the project he had been working on, picking up a screwdriver before sighing and turning back to the woman. “Look Nat,” He continued, twirling the tool in his hands. “I know Penny the best, and if something was wrong with her I would know. I appreciate that you’re concerned for her, but trust me when I tell you that there’s no problem or mystery to solve here.”

Natasha couldn’t help but notice how genuine Tony sounded, and deciding to cut her losses she gave in. “Ok…” She nearly whispered, somehow more confused than when she had first walked in. “I trust you Tony. I’ll let it go.” 

Tony smiled, the grin never really reaching his eyes. “It’s my job to worry about her, not yours.” He joked, making Natasha chuckle. “But it’s nice to know that she has other people looking out for her.”

After saying his piece, Tony turned back to the project he had previously been working on and Natasha took that as he queue to leave. She still held some suspicious, now about both Penny and Tony, but she decided it would be best to keep them to herself. 

The teenage spider wasn’t in any immediate danger, and that was enough for Nat to forget about the subject for the rest of the night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to be really gay I promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Female Peter owns my heart.


End file.
